Border situation ‘improving’, next round of meeting soon, says China

The situation along the western sector of the disputed Sino-India border was "improving", China said on Thursday, days after the embattled border troops of the two countries began to disengage in the area after the worst crisis along the line of actual control (LAC) in decades.

The Chinese foreign ministry added that Beijing will have a new round of dialogue with New Delhi under the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) as part of continuing dialogue.

"Following the consensus reached at the commander-level talks, China, India border troops have taken effective measures to disengage at the frontline in the Galwan Valley and other areas," foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian said at the regular ministry briefing on Thursday.

"The situation along the border is stable and improving. The two sides will continue dialogue and communication through military and diplomatic channels including by holding (a) meeting of the WMMC on border affairs," he said.

The spokesperson did not share details of the disengagement or the protocols that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) was following to pull back troops and armament.

Zhao added: "Hope India will work together with us to take concrete action and implement the consensus reached and jointly work for de-escalation along the border."

On Tuesday, the Chinese foreign ministry had told HT that its troops had begun to disengage from the Galwan Valley, a day after New Delhi and Beijing simultaneously announced their decision to deescalate the two-month-long tense situation in the area.

In all, the two sides have had three meetings between military corps commanders on June 6, 22, and 30 and two meetings of the WMCC on June 5 and 24.

The move towards a de-escalation and disengagement at key friction points in Ladakh sector of the LAC followed Doval and Wang's phone conversation on July 5.

Doval and Wang had agreed to begin the disengagement process at the earliest, following which border troops from the two countries had begun to pull back.

Disclaimer: This article first appeared on hindustantimes.com, and is published by special syndication arrangement